Camera monitoring becomes software-based

"A revolution is under way in the market for video surveillance and security systems: IP integration is spreading. The advantages are proving themselves in savings and more effective operations, but it also opens up new opportunities for intelligent applications," says Roy Alves of SCS Distribution, local distributor for Axis Communications.

The global market for surveillance and security systems has awakened to the digital revolution. Previously, video surveillance essentially involved transmitting pictures to a control room where security guards sat staring at a wall of TV monitors. The images were stored on miles of videotape that had to be manually archived for later reference if it was necessary to search for important evidence.

Digital developments open the door for totally new possibilities. Camera installations can now be integrated with normal data networks so the recordings are transmitted as digital data. Thereby, the camera-based surveillance is automated with the help of Windows-based applications. This brings obvious benefits for the companies doing video surveillance, for their employees and their customers.

Significant savings can result from the change from analogue to digital video surveillance - both because operations of the surveillance network become simpler, and also due to the fact that the expensive and difficult handling of video cassettes is no longer necessary. The IP transmission allows intelligent, server-based storage of the digital image files.

Simultaneously the separate cabling with heavy, unmanageable coaxial cables that is require by the analogue approach becomes a thing of the past. With IP-compatible cameras, everything is connected directly on the local area network (LAN). Since the video cameras` input exists as digital image files on the server, it is far easier and much cheaper for companies to search and find previous recordings.

These advantages are self evident, and have widespread acceptance from the leading hardware manufacturers in the security industry. For example, camera supplier AXIS Communications has developed its products to support direct IP integration.

The most interesting and groundbreaking developments in the market are currently found in the area of applications for intelligent handling of the digital image input from the surveillance cameras.

A series of processes can be automated. For example, the surveillance software is capable of `keeping an eye on` several hundred surveillance cameras at the same time and giving an automated alarm (sound, e-mail or SMS) if movement is detected in an area that should not be occupied. It is also possible to pre-configure the software to speed up the cameras to take more pictures per second when motion is detected.

Server-based camera integration also provides the opportunity for flexible and location-independent access to information. For example, Milestone Systems has developed a solution where a user can view and manage images from a `camera park` via a Web-based portal function. This means `goodbye` to 24-hour monitoring in small, dark control rooms. In the future, a security manager can sit in the luxury of a beach house monitoring all the cameras for the company from a laptop. The only thing needed is a high-speed ADSL connection.